Taapsee Pannu clocks 10 years in Bollywood: My only goal was to become someone who is not easily replaceable

Taapsee Pannu didn’t have a career trajectory charted out when she started her journey in the Hindi film industry 10 years ago with Chashme Baddoor. “I was told that it’s a short lived career and there are not many examples of people who lasted for a long time. So I always thought that, ‘Okay, I’m just gonna be here around for a couple of more years’,” says Pannu.

The actor, who had worked in a few Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam movies before venturing into Bollywood, says she wanted to stand out. “During my stint in the South, I realised that I was dispensable. I began to feel that I needed to have something more besides just having a female presence in films. I wanted the audience to believe that I wouldn’t waste their money and time. My only goal was to become someone who is not easily replaceable,” says the 35-year-old.

Cut to 2023, Pannu is one of the most bankable actors and says she feels satisfied as an artiste. “Barring all the misses that I learnt from, I do have a credible career graph to be proud of. In fact, that’s the only thing that has encouraged me to move forward. I feel satisfied. I have nothing else to keep patting my back. And I am definitely in a place where I am satisfied,” shares Pannu, who will be seen in Dunki alongside Shah Rukh Khan, besides Haseen Dillruba sequel.

Pannu admits that she wanted to create a unique identity with her work and her self-critical attitude helped her achieve that. “A lot of people (actors) who come into this industry don’t have a recall value. But I have been lucky to get back-to-back good opportunities that helped me create a unique identity and leave a strong impression on the audience’s mind,” she tells us.

The Dobaaraa (2022) actor adds that irrespective of her audience pool, she feels glad that she is known because of her past body of work. “I am glad that I have a recall value because of it. I have been able to build an identity in over 10 years, which, I feel, is my biggest achievement in this industry,” she adds.

Ask her about the lowest point in these 10 years and the actor says, she can’t really point out one. “Being an actor, I’ve kept myself vulnerable to situations in life… to make sure I stay as real as possible. This obviously makes you experience a lot of lows as well. But I’ll just say that I’ve had as many lows as highs in the last 10 years. And I’m sure there’ll be many more to come. All I know is that I chose a non-monotonous life. And that’s what I got,” she ends.